Enlivex Therapeutics, a portfolio company of Hadasit Bio Holdings (which holds 16.6% of its shares), has announced a $10 million fund raising round at a valuation of $50 million before money. Hadasit Bio Holdings' share price rose yesterday on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, and it currently has a market cap of NIS 36.5 million.
Enlivex Therapeutics, whose main product is for treating graft-versus-host disease (GvHD), a side effect of treatments for leukemia, has in the past stated an intention to list on Nasdaq.
Enlivex Therapeutics chairman Shai Novik told "Globes" yesterday, "There is no doubt that we will hold a larger financing round, public or private, in the near future. We believe that we have something to offer the US market, and so a move to list on Nasdaq will depend on market conditions. The fact that we now have a leading Korean investor also opens up for us the possibility of a flotation in Asia."
Of the current round, $8 million has already been closed. Korea Investment Partners (KIP) has invested $6 million in the company, while Hadasit Bio has invested $2 million. KIP is one of Korea's leading venture capital firms, and has substantial activity in pharmaceuticals. This is its third investment in Israel. It previously invested in Eloxx Pharmaceuticals and in KAHR Medical, which is also a Hadasit Bio subsidiary.
The current round will enable Enlivex Therapeutics to begin a Phase III trial for the main indication of GvHD. The company says that it will continue to develop its product for additional diseases connected to undesirable activity of the immune system.
Enlivex Therapeutics was founded by Hadasit Bio on the basis of technology commercialized by Hadassah Medical Center via Hadasit - the Technology Transfer Company of Hadassah Medical Organization .
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on September 25, 2017
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